The following background is provided simply as an aid in understanding the disclosed subject matter and is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the disclosed subject matter.
Nanotechnology is a field of applied science focused on the design, synthesis, characterization and application of materials and devices on the nanoscale. As the demand for nanoscale products grows there is a need for mass producing nanoscale technologies. Due to the size of these technologies, specialized equipment and processes capable of the controlled placement of nano materials have been developed.
For example, nanolithography is a method of nanoscale manufacturing used to build nanometer scale structures and patterns, in some cases, by literally drawing materials directly onto a surface (direct write lithography). One example of nanolithography is DPN® printing (NanoInk, Chicago, Ill.). Using this and other methods, nanolithography users can build at resolutions ranging from many micrometers down to 15 nanometers, using virtually any material. This combination of ultrahigh resolution and material flexibility makes for numerous commercial applications. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,979 to Mirkin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,179 to Liu et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,624 to Liu et al.
Scanning probe technology provides a foundation for the hardware platform of nanolithography writing systems including DPN printing. In using a scanning probe instrument for lithography, a molecule-coated probe tip which becomes a pen is used to deposit “ink” material onto a surface. The deposition process involves a chemically engineered ink-and-substrate combination, and the ubiquitous nanoscale positioning control offered by scanning probes provides the ability to produce high-quality nanolithographic patterns. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,034,854 to Cruchon-Dupeyrat et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,378 to Crocker et al.
Nanolithography methods have been developed to pattern a wide variety of ink-substrate combinations. Nanolithography is compatible with many inks, from small organic molecules to organic and biological polymers, and from colloidal particles to metals ions and sols. Nanolithography can also be used to pattern onto many different surfaces ranging from metals to insulators, as well as to pattern on top of functional monolayers adsorbed on a variety of surfaces.
To provide high quality patterning, calibration and alignment are important. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,060,977 to Cruchon-Dupeyrat et al. and US patent publication 2003/0185967 to Eby et al.
Increased noise, non-orthogonal and curvy features and probe fishtailing are pitfalls that can arise in conventional nanolithography systems including DPN printing, particularly with inexperienced users facing difficult patterning or imaging problems. Cantilever tips and cantilever arrays can be operatively coupled with scanners by mechanical devices which can include mechanical clips which allow changing of probes. However, mechanical pieces can rub against a substrate which causes image distortion and feedback related oscillations. These problems are all caused by a probe chip being arranged in a non-planar orientation with respect to a substrate. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a tip clip 24 for use with a probe chip 25 may inadvertently come into contact with a substrate 41. In the alternative, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the edge of the probe chip 25 may also cause rubbing. Accordingly there is a need for a system and method for calibrating nanolithography probes with respect to a substrate to eliminate the above-mentioned problems.